Fiona from England

At the end of April this year I began to think about going to Germany for the World Cup. I asked around my friends and then acquaintances…. and then everyone I had ever known!?!?! Would they like to join me… ‘Sorry, I can’t get the time off work’, ‘Sorry, I really can’t afford it right now, ‘Sorry, I hate football’ (From most of my girl-friends! – HAHA) came the responses… so… That was that….. or was it? I thought about the ‘Companions to travel’ website that I had discovered a few weeks earlier when I had first considered a summer break (not necessarily football at this stage however) Was it worth putting up a new profile specifically requesting a companion for Germany. ? Yes, I decided…… so, the request was posted and I waited…. And I waited.,…… and then I stopped thinking about it...
I discovered Host-a-fan via an article from the Guardian newspaper. After a few preliminary enquiries, and the realisation that there WAS accommodation there, and accommodation that was perfect for me, (cheap and with the opportunity to make friends – much nicer than the anonymity of a bland hotel room), I booked some cheap flights through Lufthansa and came back to host-a-fan to make some definite bookings.
Then, out of the blue I had a message from the ‘Companions’ site. Someone was interested in going. A Financial advisor and Leeds United fan called Darren… He had been thinking about going to Germany for a while and like me had left it very late. But he wanted to join me.
On Thursday 8th June, at 9.25 I arrived at the Frankfurt airport! It took me some time to get my bearings but eventually, after asking several passers-by and making at least 2 calls to Dieter, I was on the right train and heading for Muhlheim and my first stay. Dieter was there at Muhlheim station to collect me and drive me the short distance to his home. We chatted for an hour or so. I had my first bier, and I gave him the gifts I’d brought from Halesowen- A baseball cap, mini flags, banners, a pen and a fridge magnet.
Frankfurt was a lovely city and Darren (who arrived a few days later) and I enjoyed getting to know it, and each other. Dieter and Ingrid were great hosts and very friendly and helpful. Their English was also incredible, considering neither of them had studied it since school! They obviously were taught very well, I told them.
After Frankfurt we left for Berlin we did not see our landlord much but the accommodation was clean and comfortable.Berlin was HUGE and we only saw a fraction of that we would’ve liked.Games were taken in, in the bars, and at the Fan Fest with the back-drop of the Brandenberg Gate, what a setting!! We only had one small problem in Berlin:
... the front door… All German doors seem to require a science degree to open them!? I had to call the landlord here to come and let us in, who then proceeded to show us just how easy it was!! Hmmmmmmm…
Next on the Agenda was another very long train journey to Nuremberg.Leaving Nuremberg on the 16th, the next destination was Munich.Munich was amazing…I shopped, and went to the Toy museum. Darren walked and explored. Much bier was consumed and going to the Hofbrauhaus after the Brazil v Australia game!! I reckon that speaks for itself really! What a night!
After 3 fantastic days, Cologne beckoned...
We checked out the centre for a while, and went into one of three fan-fests in the city. With the backdrop of the Dom, the setting couldn’t have been lovelier, but it was relatively small.
We settled on toGelsenkirchen. It was only about an hour and a half away and the fan-fest was at the old Shalke ground, which appealed to us, so after breakfast we set off, out of Cologne!
Gelsenkirchen was quiet, very quiet – Quaint even…
We had a great time there -met many people and had a lot of beer. It was great fn to party with the Germany and eventhough we were already pretty drunk we decided to have another beer and another beer instead of going home. After a long night we went to the train stadion to get home, then this happend:
Eventually we were on the train… BUT, wait….. was it the right one?… Half way into our journey, we both became convinced that we weren’t headed back to Cologne. We checked the map on the ceiling of the carriage and at Neuss, we got off the train, I’m not quite sure WHAT we intended to do from here, but…… As we watched the train pull out of the station, we looked at the map on the platform… AAGGHH, IT WAS the RIGHT train!!! Now what to do!??! We had almost no idea where we were… Luckily there was a taxi rank outside, Unluckily, it would cost us 60 Euros to get back to Cologne! This helped us to sober up slightly!!We arrived back at around 2am, very tired, but having had a fantastic day despite the train experience

The next morning I noticed: Just two more nights left… I was already feeling sad. We left Gelsenkrichen to spend one night in Dortmund before heading back to Frankfurt to Dieter to take our flight.

I liked Dortmund, maybe my second favourite city. Such a pity we were here for just one night! At the station, as was now our wont, we considered where we would stay. I went once again to the Internet café and found two or three Host-a-fan ‘Last minute landlords’ Only one sounded promising. He would have to call us back however, as he was waiting for confirmation from 2 Brazilian guys that they would be wanting the room. This was at 2.30pm. We would have a 2-hour wait here at the station!

At half past 4, my phone rang and it was Werner. He’d not heard from the Brazilians, so we could have the room! Excellent….

We followed his directions and in half and hour we were being shown the room and told about keys and paying for the room, etc etc, when suddenly, the doorbell rang….2 Brazilians were on the doorstep!!! Werner was very apologetic, and tried to explain, suggesting alternatives for the 2 guys! It was not his fault we thought!!… We were embarrassed of course, but grateful we’d arrived when we had… Surely we’d keep the room?? Eventually it was agreed the Brazilians could sleep on Werners Kitchen floor!! Darren and I tried hard not to laugh… There was one Brazilian next to the cooker, with his head out onto the landing and the other I believe under the table!

The next morning I went back to Frankfurt and enjoyed my final wander around Muhlhem, complete with a gorgeous Ice-cream in an Italian Ice-parlour. But then it was time to leave.

I’d survived and had an absolutely brilliant time. I would never forget the
experience and hopefully I’d made some new friends into the bargain!

Thank-you Host-a-fan, and Thank you Germany!!!

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